What's Real
by Venotica
Summary: After the death of her fiancé, all Jaclyn wanted was a way out of the world of dream sharing. She's given her opportunity with an unexpected job offer. Find the Inception team, and hand them over to Peter she begins to fall in love with the man she's agreed to hand over to die, Jaclyn must decide if what she feels is real, or just another dream.
1. Chapter 1: The Job

A/N: Thank you for taking an interest in my story! Here's chapter one. Please remember to R&R!

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><p>Chapter One: The Job<p>

Jaclyn's pumps clacked loudly as she strolled across the marble of the office building's foyer toward the check-in desk. A few of the business men in the lobby stared at her as she strolled through. Whether they were staring because of the noise or because of the young, gorgeous blonde strolling through was unclear. Jaclyn tossed the men a smile anyway.

The building was huge. It was a headquarters for the Fischer-Morrow energy company. But that wasn't what Jaclyn was interested in. There was a man here by the name of Peter Browning. That's what she was interested in.

The woman at the check-in desk looked at Jaclyn politely before questioning her. "How may I help you?"

"I'm here to see Peter Browning. I have an appointment."

The woman nodded at her before picking up the phone and dialing a number. She talked into the phone for a few seconds before turning her attention back to her. "What is your name?"

"Jaclyn Blanc."

The woman repeated the name into the phone, and then hung up. "Go ahead. Fifteenth Floor."

Jaclyn nodded her thanks and walked past the security guards to the elevator.

She quickly pressed the button in the elevator and began the ascent to Mr. Browning's office. She had done her homework before coming here. Peter Browning was a major player in the company, being in even more power after the founder of the company, Maurice Fischer, had died only weeks ago. She understood that the son of the late Mr. Fischer had inherited the company.

Understandably, the company was on some rocky turf right now. It made sense that this Mr. Browning might attempt to get ahead now by hiring someone of Jaclyn's unique skill set. Jaclyn was capable of being both The Actress and The Extractor. Jobs essential in Extraction. She could only assume that Mr. Browning had contacted her because he needed an extraction performed. It was not uncommon. She would put together a team, and they would extract whatever information was needed.

As the elevator neared its stop, Jaclyn tucked a blonde curl behind her ear and tugged down lightly on her jacket before smoothing out her pencil skirt. Jaclyn always made sure she looked her best. After all, first impressions were essential.

The elevator opened to what looked like a waiting room. Across the room, there were large double doors in dark wood. Jaclyn assumed that beyond those doors was the office. She crossed the waiting room and was about to knock on the door when it opened abruptly.

The first thing she noticed about the man on the other side of the door was his astonishing blue eyes. He looked at her for a few moments before speaking. "Excuse me." Was all he said, rather shortly. Jaclyn quickly stepped to the side to allow him to pass. He began to walk past her, when a voice from within the office stopped the man short.

"Robert, we need to talk about this. You can't just do something this drastic without thinking it through. I understand you want to be your own man but-"

Jaclyn looked into the office to see the man who had spoken. From the photo's Jaclyn had received upon researching the client, this was undoubtedly Peter Browning. Which meant that the Robert he was speaking to must be Robert Fischer.

"No, Uncle Peter. I've scheduled a press release to announce my decision for two months from now. It's done." With that, Robert turned sharply and left the office, making his way to the elevator.

Jaclyn took it upon herself to walk into the office and shut the door behind herself. Behind the large desk sat a rather exasperated looking Peter Browning.

"I'm sorry if I've arrived at a poor time." Jaclyn said. "Would you prefer if we discussed your job offer at a later date?"

"No, no." Mr. Browning answered quickly. "Please, Ms. Blanc. Take a seat." He gestured to one of the large leather chairs in front of the desk, and Jaclyn quickly sat.

Peter Browning reached across his desk for a crystal liquor decanter, and quickly poured himself a shot. He lifted the crystal to offer her some, but she shook her head.

He drank the shot quickly, and then opened a file on his desk in front of him. Before he began to read, he slipped some glasses onto his face.

"So, Ms. Blanc. You're developing quite the reputation in your world."

"A positive reputation, I hope." Jaclyn answered simply with a smile.

"A reputation for getting results."

"I don't believe in failure."

"Good." Browning said. "There is no room for failure in this operation." He paused again to look at the file. "My research has shown you to be quite manipulative, Ms. Blanc. In your world, you've earned quite the nickname. The Femme Fatale."

Jaclyn couldn't help but smirk just slightly. "My methods for obtaining information have proven to be quite successful. I manipulate the mind in the way every extractor does. I've merely added my own unique twist."

Browning merely smiled in response.

"I'm assuming you're requesting an extraction." Jaclyn continued.

"No, not quite."

Jaclyn found herself caught off guard. "Perhaps I misunderstood your job offer. When we spoke on the phone, you said you were looking for a skilled extractor-"

"I am, Ms. Blanc. However, it's not extraction I need."

Jaclyn looked at the man for a few moments, narrowing her eyes slightly. "So then what is it you do need?"

"I need to know about inception."

Jaclyn froze immediately, caught off guard. "Inception?"

"Yes."

She was silent for a few moments as she gathered her thoughts. "Well, it is the opposite of extraction. Planting an idea in someone's mind. Most people in my line of work consider it to be an impossible task."

"Well is it impossible?"

"I don't believe so."

Browning stood and faced the window behind his desk. "I hired a point-man before I hired you." He began. "He has been feeding me the information I need about your world. He has told me of a rumor circulating. That inception has been done."

Jaclyn nodded her head. "It has been circulating recently, yes. But this is not unusual. Many people claim to have performed inception. Falsely of course."

Browning was silent for a moment.

"Do you know who the inception of this rumor was performed by?"

"No."

"Do you know whom it was done to?"

"No."

Browning took his glasses of his nose and gave an exasperated sigh. "How difficult would it be to find out this information?"

"Highly difficult." Jaclyn answered. "If the person whom it was performed on ever found out about it, they would undoubtedly be furious. The team who did it would be killed. So, I'm sure if they really did do it they would keep shut about it."

There was more silence. "Why are you also considered The Actress?" Browning asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"In a dream, projections don't recognize me as a dreamer. They recognize me as one of them for extended periods of time, even if I change the dream. Eventually they will converge on me, but I usually have about three or four times more time in the dream before they do so, when compared to a regular dreamer. However, if someone directly tells the subject I'm not a projection, they then treat me as they would a dreamer."

"How do you come by possessing this trait?"

"Our traits in the dream world are directly related to our traits in real life. In the real world, I'm a skilled actress. In the dream, I can pose as a projection."

Browning was silent again. When he finally turned around to speak, his glasses were in his hands.

"Ms. Blanc, I need you to find the people who performed inception."

"I told you, Mr. Browning, this information is more than likely false. Inception is nearly impossible."

"It was done." He said firmly. "I know it. It was performed on Robert."

Jaclyn went completely still. "How can you be sure?"

"I just know. Shortly after his father passed, he changed. He's now possessed by this idea. This idea that he wants to destroy his father's empire."

"With all due respect, Mr. Browning, it's possible that Mr. Fischer simply changed his-"

"No!" Browning suddenly yelled, slamming his fist against the desk. "This isn't the Robert I know. He never would have destroyed his whole inheritance. And on top of that, he's become completely distant from me. All he talks about now is this idea. His mind, has been infiltrated damnnit. I know it."

And just as suddenly, his fit of anger went away.

Jaclyn swallowed before continuing. "Even if this were true, and his mind had been infiltrated. Finding the team that had done so would be incredibly difficult. And if I betrayed them to you, no team would ever hire me again. I would be out of a job forever."

"Which is why I'm willing to pay you eighty million dollars to complete this assignment."

Jaclyn stared at the man across from him like he was insane. "Eighty million?"

"Yes. And I will pay you five million up front, if you accept it."

Jaclyn leaned back in her chair, her mind racing wildly. It was a lot of money. With the correct accountants, she would never have to work again. She could finally relax, and stop being on the run. She could settle down and have a family with somebody, and never have to worry about prying questions into what she was doing. The idea of having an intimate relationship with someone that lasted longer than one night was what intrigued her the most. And the idea that she could actually be a mother.

"And what if I don't succeed? I mean, there's no guarantee that his mind has even been infiltrated." Jaclyn questioned.

"Then you keep the five million and we go our separate ways."

Jaclyn paused again, thinking. It was a tempting offer. No doubt this job could take years to accomplish.

"I'll be traveling a lot in order to complete this job."

"I will cover all of your travel fees. Including hotels."

"I can't guarantee you a time period for the job to be completed in. This could take years." Jaclyn continued.

"I don't care how long it takes. I want to find the people who did this and make them pay. I will show them what happens when you tamper around with people's minds."

Jaclyn paused again, her mind still racing. He was handing her the perfect opportunity to have everything she ever wanted. She would be handing several people over to Browning, though. For him to do whatever he saw fit. Was it worth it? Was it worth the escape she had been seeking for the past several years? She let out a sigh before looking up at Browning and meeting his eyes. "Alright. I accept."

With that, she stood and shook Browning's hand.

"Excellent Ms. Blanc, excellent. I will have the money wire-transferred to you."

Jaclyn nodded, and then turned away from the man. She walked across the office towards the door, and just before she was about to leave, Browning spoke again.

"Ms. Blanc, I will be expecting updates on your progress."

"Of course, Mr. Browning." With that, she walked out of the office and closed the door behind her. She walked as quickly as she could to the elevator. When she reached it, she quickly shut the door and hit the button for the ground floor. As soon as the doors to the elevator closed, she let out a heavy sigh. What in the hell had she gotten herself into?

As soon as Jaclyn was out of sight of the building, she took out her cell phone and quickly dialed a phone number. The phone rang several times before it was answered.

"Hello?"

Jaclyn felt a breath she hadn't known she was holding be released when she heard her friend's voice. "Maya, hey. I need your help."

Jaclyn heard the point-woman on the other line let out an overly dramatic sigh. "What did you get yourself into this time?"

"It's a job." Jaclyn answered quickly. "If I complete it, I may never have to work again."

Maya was silent on the other line for a few seconds. "Alright. Well what can I do to help?"

"I need you to locate every flight, train ride, surgery, boat ride, etcetera that Robert Fischer has been on in the last six months that have lasted at least five hours. And I need to know every single person that was on that flight with him, that train, that boat, and anyone that came near him while he was out for surgery."

"Jesus, Jaclyn. You know that information isn't really easy to get, right?"

"Exactly why I called you."

Jaclyn heard her friend laugh on the other end of the line. "Alright, I'll do my best. But I want a cut."

"Of course. Do you really think I would leave you hanging?"

"You never really know in our line of business. Meet me at Plaza Athenee hotel in Paris in one month with the money, and I'll have your information."

"Alright. See you then."

Jaclyn hung up the phone and hailed a cab. As she climbed into the yellow car, the only thing she could think was, 'It's worth it. It'll all be worth it in the end.'

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><p><em>One month later<em>

Jaclyn felt her heart twist in her chest as the taxi she was in passed the Eiffel Tower. The last time she had come to Paris had been several years prior. She had been much younger, and deeply in love with her at the time fiancé, Ben. She had just stepped into the world that was dream sharing, and she had been blind to all of this world's dangers. Her fiancé had been an extractor, and had been killed after failing to complete a job. Now every place that she had been with him was a sore reminder of what couldn't be.

After her fiancé had died, Jaclyn had promised herself that she wouldn't allow herself to love so long as she was in this lifestyle. It was just too dangerous. In the life, she had no romantic relationships that lasted longer than one night.

The taxi finally arrived at the hotel, and Jaclyn was quick to check in. As she was finished checking in, the clerk subtly handed her a sealed envelope. Jaclyn nodded to the man before proceeding to her room.

The room was lovely, of course. A suite, decorated very elegantly. Jaclyn couldn't help but to smile to herself. This was exactly the kind of decadence that Maya would expect while staying at a hotel. Although, Jaclyn had to admit she wasn't much different. She also appreciated the finer things in life.

As soon as she had shut the door behind herself and locked it, she opened the envelope. She recognized Maya's handwriting immediately.

_Jaycee,_

_La Cour Jardin at six._

_Maya_

Jaclyn remembered the restaurant distinctly. She had been there with Ben when they had come to Paris.

She let out a sigh and placed the envelope on the end table beside her bed. There was a clock sitting there that read 4:38. She had enough time to get ready before going to dinner.

She showered as quickly as she could before blowing out her hair and changing into a simple red dress for dinner.

She made the restaurant just before six. Of course, another beautiful place. It was an outdoor restaurant, in the center of the hotel. Absolutely gorgeous.

It wasn't any surprise to her that the host took her straight to a table where Maya was sitting. Maya always did like to arrive early.

"Nice to see you again." Maya said simply as Jaclyn walked up.

Jaclyn had always thought of her friend as exceedingly pretty. She was naturally tan, and always kept her brown hair cut short. While Jaclyn had never been able to pull off the look, Maya did it exceedingly well.

Jaclyn took the seat opposite her friend and smiled. "Same to you. It's been way too long."

The two girls exchanged small talk for a while, until the main course arrived. It was then that Maya got down to business. She reached into her purse and quickly pulled out a small flash drive.

"That contains all of the information you asked me to get." Maya said simply, holding up the flash drive before sliding it to her across the table.

Jaclyn nodded. "I can't thank you enough for this."

Maya laughed in response. "I would hope so. That information wasn't easy to get."

There were a few moments of silence before Maya spoke up again. "So what's the job?"

Jaclyn shook her head. "I don't think I can tell you."

"Well, if that list has anything to do with this job, I can tell you that it won't be easy. I had to get a lot of help to get that done. You won't be able to do this alone."

Jaclyn merely crossed her arms and stared intently across the courtyard. "No. I can do this."

Maya rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying that you can't. I'm just saying, it would be a lot easier with some help. I want to get out of this life just as much as you do."

Jaclyn hoped her silence would have been answer enough for Maya, but the woman across from her was not letting up in her stare-down. "I don't want to put you in danger." Jaclyn finally stated. "Extraction jobs are dangerous enough. If anyone from our world finds out what I'm trying to do, I could get killed. If you help me, so could you."

"Jaclyn." Maya began simply. "I know after what happened with Ben," Jaclyn couldn't help but to shift uncomfortably in her seat at the mention of her late fiancé's name. "You have this overwhelming desire to protect other people. But if you try to do whatever this is alone, you're probably going to wind up getting killed. I know you don't want that, and I don't want that."

Jaclyn sat in silence, her arms crossed as she looked at her friend. "Alright, fine. But honestly I'm not even sure it can be done."

Maya immediately perked up very excitedly. "Well what's the job?"

"A major businessman thinks that his godson's mind has been infiltrated. He wants me to find out who did it."

"What, like find the people that extracted information from him?"

"Not quite. Find the people that planted an idea there."

Maya laughed out loud in response. "He thinks someone performed inception on his godson? Did you tell him that he was off his rocker?"

"I tried to tell him that, but he wouldn't listen."

"Inception is nearly impossible."

"Nearly." Jaclyn repeated. "And you know the rumor that has been circulating around."

"Yeah, but people always start rumors about inception."

"But this rumor is different. I know it."

Maya was silent for a few moments. "So what exactly is your plan of action?"

"Cross reference every person we know with the people on your list and see if we get any matches." When Maya stared at her incredulously Jaclyn merely shook her head. "I know it's a long shot, but if I do this, I can stop working like this."

"How much is he paying?"

"Eighty Million."

"Jesus." Maya answered quickly. She was quiet for a moment, before she spoke up. "Do you think it's worth it? What's he going to do to these people once you find them?"

Jaclyn met eyes with Maya carefully. "You know what he will do." Torture, would be a good start. Browning seemed hell-bent on revenge. It wasn't likely that he was going to just kill them right off. Whatever happened to these people, it was more like they would endure a lot of punishment before he finally got rid of them.

Maya sat silently. "One last job." She finally stated. "Where the risks are higher than anything we've ever done before." She was quiet again before she answered. "Alright, how about this? You get fifty and I'll get thirty. And together, we finish everything."

"Sounds like a deal." Jaclyn answered.

"Well then we don't have any time to waste."

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><p>AN: Hey guys, thanks for reading chapter one! I was originally planning on making this chapter a little bit longer, but I figured I'd save that up and wait for chapter two.

This story will be Eames/OC, so be prepared. He'll be introduced in the next chapter.

If you liked it so far, please review.

Also, for the character's I do have actresses' in mind for anyone who's curious.

Jaclyn Blanc- Scarlett Johansson

Maya Smith- Halle Berry

And of course, thank you to the Inception soundtrack, which was playing the whole time I wrote this chapter.


	2. Chapter 2: The Call

A/N: Here's chapter 2! Enjoy! Please R&R!

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><p>Chapter 2: The Call<p>

_Mombasa, 5 months after Inception_

Jacob Eames sipped on a beer as he looked down at the crowded streets below him from his balcony view from the bar he was at. It had been almost five months since he had been a part of the crew that had performed inception on Robert Fischer. And where was he now? Back in Mombasa.

After the group had gone their separate ways, Eames hadn't entirely known where to go. Arthur and Ariadne had gone off together, Cobb had stayed in America with his kids, and Yusuf had headed out on his own. And now Eames found himself in the same place he had been. Mombasa, alone.

He preferred it that way. He didn't have to watch out for anyone but himself. However, he did admit he could use some company every now and again. But then again, he could always pick someone up for that, or pay someone if he really needed to.

He took another sip of his beer, and leaned against the railing as he took another look at the street below him. The movement of all the people seemed like an excited beehive, buzzing right under his feet. A smile formed on his face at the thought, and he took another sip.

That was when his phone started buzzing in his pocket.

Eames took his phone out of his pocket, and glanced at the number briefly before smirking and answering the phone.

"Arthur, old chap. How are things?"

"Hello, Eames." Was Arthur's simple, slightly annoyed response. "Obviously you're doing well."

"When am I not?" Came Eames' smart retort.

"Never, apparently." Arthur replied. "But I didn't call you to see what you were up to."

"Oh really? I do have to say I'm disappointed. It would've been nice to have a chat with my favorite stick-in-the-mud."

Arthur let out a sigh over the phone. "I'm being serious. There's something you need to know about. There was a hacking into some major airlines a few months ago. They kept it under wraps from the press, but I found out about it."

"Alright. Let's get to the part where this is important to me." Came Eames' response.

"All of these hackings have one thing in common. They were airlines that Robert Fischer has used in the past year."

Eames' smile vanished from his face almost instantly. "What does this mean?"

"I think someone is looking for us." Arthur replied. "I started doing some digging after I found out about the airlines, and it looks like there was some other information stolen from different agencies. All it is is lists of names. People on the planes, people on trains, people in hospitals. I'm sure that more was stolen, but it was impossible for me to hack into all of the databases to know for sure. And I'm sure they've hacked into other agencies that probably didn't even notice they got inside. Whoever this hacker is, they know what they're doing."

"But why would anyone come after us? How would they even know where to look?"

"Someone must suspect foul play. It could just be a coincidence, but it's unlikely. I tossed around the idea of someone trying to steal money, but all they're taking is lists of names. Someone is hunting for us."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Eames replied. His tone was much more serious now. This was their lives they were talking about.

"Just be careful. Stay far away from anyone talking about inception, and only accept jobs from people you trust. Actually, it might be safer to not take any jobs at all for a while."

Eames nodded and self-consciously glanced over his shoulder. "Alright mate. Thanks for the heads-up."

"No problem, Eames."

Eames ended the call, but then found himself checking over his shoulder again. He knew the risks of inception, but hadn't thought that so long after it had happened that he would still be in danger. The best thing he could do now was lie low. And as he took another sip of his beer, that was exactly what he intended to do.

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><p><em>Mombasa: One Year after Inception<em>

Eames sat at a table, a beer, some crap food, and a cigar on the table in front of him. A pretty decent mix. He popped the cap on the beer, and leaned back in his chair to relax. It had been seven months since his talk with Arthur, and he had been lying about as low as one could. He didn't necessarily need to take any jobs anyway. Not after the money he had pulled from the Fischer job. But he was beginning to get antsy. He hadn't done much since Arthur had called him, and it wasn't like Eames to sit still for too long. That's why he had agreed to meet with an Architect he knew today.

He spotted the man as soon as he walked in. He wasn't very tall, and he always had a nervous appearance to himself, despite being younger than Eames. The man glanced around quickly before spotting Eames, and immediately headed over to him.

"Eames." He greeted him simply as the man sat across from him.

"Louis." He replied.

The man pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket and immediately lit one up.

"How ya been, Eames?" The man asked him. "You seem like you're doing well. Nice new shirt, a cigar."

Eames let out a small chuckle in response. "I've been doing alright."

"I'm certainly glad you have been. But me, I've actually got to work for a living." The man took a deep drag on his cigarette. "But I need help, and I know you can help me."

Eames nodded his head, and glanced out towards the street. This balcony was his favorite spot in all of Mombasa. "I can see what I can do."

"It's a pretty simple extraction. I'm gonna need a few documents. I'm sure you can handle that. But if you wanna go in with me, I could use your help with that too."

Eames nodded. "Sounds good. Who else is involved? Anyone I know?"

"I don't believe so." Louis replied after taking another drag.

"Are they trustworthy?" Eames questioned.

"What are ya kidding me? Of course, Eames. You know me."

Eames paused for a moment and considered Arthurs warning. But, it had been quite a while since that had happened. And he had worked with Louis on many jobs, nothing had ever gone wrong.

"Alright, mate." Eames replied. "Tell me about this job."

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><p><em>Paris, France: One Year after Inception<em>

Jaclyn lazed about on the large queen bed in her suite. Across the room, Maya was staring at the screen of her laptop. It had been almost a year since she had gotten her assignment from Peter Browning, and she was beginning to give up any hope of its completion. Browning's calls had been getting more and more impatient every time she contacted him. The man wasn't very patient to begin with, and she had a feeling that he may call the job off if she didn't get results pretty soon. Jaclyn couldn't say that she would be disappointed if he did. So far, all this job had done was make her impatient, give her a headache, and giver her false hope.

Jaclyn rubbed her eyes and sighed. She glanced at the clock to her left, which promptly read '12:34am'.

"Alright. I say we call it a night." Jaclyn sighed.

Maya stretched and nodded in response. "I agree." The other girl stood from in front of her chair and crossed the room to sit next to Jaclyn on the bed.

"Your employer has sent you on a wild goose chase." Maya stated simply.

Jaclyn laughed. "Hey, I got five million so far out of this goose chase." She adjusted herself to a sitting position before talking again. "Oh, well. I told him it was a long shot. I don't think that he can take the anticipation for much longer, anyway. He'll probably call it off on his own in a couple of months."

The news had been abuzz recently with the decision to break up the Fischer-Morrow empire. The process of breaking apart the company had already begun. Jaclyn was sure that that was the reason that he had been so impatient with the assignment that he had given her.

Maya nodded in response. "He doesn't strike me as a very patient individual." Maya had been watching the news with Jaclyn. While Robert Fischer was the prominent one in the news, Peter Browning had been featured in a couple of interviews, and could always be seen lurking in the background of interviews and press conferences.

"Can you blame him?" Jaclyn responded. "He could be about to lose a lot of money if Robert doesn't make some sort of astounding business."

Maya nodded in response. She was about to speak again, when her phone went off across the room. She stood from her place on the bed, and went across the room to where her phone was sitting beside her laptop. She paused to identify the number before answering the call.

"Hello? Hey. I've been good. No, I'm not busy. Paris. Well, you know me. Ok. What kind of job? Alright. Sounds good. Do you still need an extractor? I have a pretty good one that I've been running with for a while now. Good. We'll be there. Who else are we working with? Never heard of him. Alright, I'll take your word for it. See ya then."

With that, Maya hung up the phone.

"I hope you feel like doing a job." Maya said with a laugh as she hung up her phone.

"Anything to get me out of this hotel." Jaclyn replied with a laugh.

Maya nodded. "I figured you'd say that."

Maya sat down at her computer again and started typing. "It's a guy I've worked with a couple of times before. He's alright. I already ran his name through our little database here, but he mentioned a Thief I've never heard of before. Some guy named Jacob Eames."

She typed on the keyboard and pressed enter, and then the program she had created went to work cycling through all of the lists she had created.

Jaclyn waited patiently for the low two-tone note that would indicate that there was no match on any of the lists. She was shocked when there was an upbeat 'bing' from Maya's computer.

The two of them looked at each other, then over to the computer screen, then back at each other. In one second, Jaclyn was up from her spot on the bed and at the computer screen.

"Run it again." She ordered immediately.

Without a word, Maya typed the name into the database again. They waited about thirty seconds, and then the 'bing' happened again, and his name was on the screen.

"Jacob Eames. He was on a flight from Sydney to LA with Fischer just days after his father passed away."

Jaclyn stared at the screen in disbelief. "Holy shit."

They both were silent for a moment, then Jaclyn let out an excited squeal. "Oh my god. We got a hit! I can't believe it!" She excitedly hugged her friend around her shoulders which caused Maya to let out a laugh.

"And, we're about to do a job with him. Can you believe it? Oh, wow. He's right there, literally within reach. I can't believe it."

Maya laughed at her friends rambling. "We just have to make sure that this really is him before we turn him into Browning." She added on a more serious note. "It could be just coincidence. After all, it looks like he had his ticket booked way before Fischer did."

"Oh, of course." Jaclyn replied, still breathless. "Don't worry, I won't hand someone over to Browning that could be innocent. But do you know what this means? We could be done. In another year, we could get out of this forever. Can you imagine?"

The other woman smiled and sighed. "Let's just get this job over with them over with, and then we'll talk about our future lives."

Jaclyn nodded, and then went over to her purse to fish out her phone. She glanced at her clock again, which now read 12:40am. She did the math in her head. It would be 3:40pm in Los Angles. She quickly took a couple of breaths to calm herself, before dialing for Browning.

The phone rang three times before he answered.

"Peter Browning." Came the man's voice.

"I got a hit." She answered.

There was silence on the line for a few moments, before Browning answered. "Alright. Move forward with it."

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><p>AN: And there is chapter two! Hope you enjoyed!

Please R&R! Next chapter, Jaclyn and Eames finally meet!


	3. Chapter 3: The Mark

Chapter 3: The Mark

A/N: Hello, and thank you for reading! Here's chapter 3, where Jaclyn and Eames finally get to meet one another.

Enjoy!

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><p>Eames kept his hands shoved into his pockets as he waited with Louis in the San Francisco International airport at baggage claim. The two partners that were supposed to be meeting with them for this job should have just gotten off of their flight from France.<p>

"What do they look like?" Eames asked Louis. "At least so I know who I should be looking for, since you don't seem to be paying any attention." The other man was focused in on playing a game on his iPhone.

"Maya had, short, brown hair last time I saw her. Tan. I don't know what the other one looks like."

Eames froze for one moment, and then turned his gaze to Louis. "What do you mean you don't know what the other one looks like?"

"I never met her before." Louis answered nonchalantly as he continued to play some bubble game on his phone.

"Louis." Eames stated as calmly as he could. "You remember when I asked you if these people were trustworthy? And you told me they were?"

Louis nodded, but didn't look up from his phone "Yeah."

"How can you know if someone is trustworthy, if you've never met them before?" Eames replied back, the end of his sentence said slightly through his teeth.

"Hey, hey, settle down alright? Listen, Maya's a great girl, doesn't have a bad bone in her body. I'm sure her little friend is just as wonderful." Louis retorted, finally putting his phone away. "You need to calm down, alright? When did you become so untrusting?"

"Maybe you should start thinking about what you say before you say it. 'Doesn't have a bad bone'? No, she just infiltrates people's minds and steals highly valuable information for a living. Great gal." Eames let out an annoyed sigh. "It doesn't matter, it's a little too late now."

Louis smiled. "See, there ya go. Just roll with the punches."

Eames couldn't help but to be annoyed, but it was too late now. He didn't really have any choice but to trust these women.

They stood there for another few minutes before people started coming down from the escalators just ahead of baggage claim. Louis stood on his toes for a moment before smiling and motioning his head towards the elevators. "There's my girl." He replied to Eames, gesturing in the direction of the escalators. Eames looked in the direction that Louis had gestured in, and saw a tan, dark haired woman descending from the floor above them. She had her head turned away from them, and was talking to another woman. And Eames couldn't help but to stare.

She was talking to one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

Her blonde hair was just long enough to go past her shoulders, and was in long, soft ringlets. He could generally make out her face from the distance he was at, but the closer she got the prettier she got. She was wearing a pencil skirt with heels and a suit jacket, but despite the business appearance, she still appeared incredibly sexy.

_Bloody hell. What have I gotten myself into?_

Louis nudged Eames in the arm and gave him a smirk before, before walking over towards the two women. Louis immediately walked up to Maya and gave her a friendly hug. After the two had exchanged their greeting, Maya immediately began the process of introductions.

"Jaclyn, this is Louis, our architect." She began, gesturing towards him.

Louis extended his hand to shake Jaclyn's. "Nice to meet you." He responded.

"Likewise." She replied simply as she shook his hand.

Louis then gestured towards Eames. "Maya, Jaclyn, this is master thief and forger, Jacob Eames."

"Just Eames is fine." Eames said immediately. He shook his hands with Maya first, and then with Jaclyn.

He glanced up into the latter woman's face as he shook her hand. She was just as stunning up close as she was far away. Her skin was pale, yet beautiful, and she had stunning green eyes. He quickly diverted his gaze from her face before muttering a quick, "Nice to meet you."

The four of them walked towards the luggage carousel, which had yet to deposit any luggage. Louis immediately paired up with Maya in conversation, which left him alone with Jaclyn.

Normally, Eames considered himself to have quite a way with women. Then again, he normally had time to psyche himself up before approaching one in a bar. And if a woman approached him, she obviously found him attractive. That alone was usually enough of a confidence boost to allow smooth sailing from then on out. He hadn't exactly been prepared for a bombshell of an Extractor to show up for their job.

He was struggling to think of a conversation topic when Jaclyn beat him to it.

"So, Master Thief?" The woman asked him, a coy smile playing about her lips.

Eames let out a small chuckle in response. "Louis does have an air for the dramatic at times."

"So then you're not a master thief?" Jaclyn questioned him, the smile still present on her lips.

"I never said that." Eames replied with his signature winning smile. _Finally regaining my footing._ He thought confidently to himself.

"You certainly think highly of yourself." The blonde replied. She glanced away from him as luggage began coming onto the carousel. After she had spotted hers, she moved forward to grab her luggage, but Eames brushed against her to beat her to it. He pulled the luggage off of the carousel, and sat it down in front of her.

"I have my reasons to." He replied as he sat down her luggage.

Jaclyn pressed the button on her luggage to extend the handle before responding to him. "I'll believe it when I see it."

"Open your hand." He ordered her simply.

She eyed him suspiciously. "Why?"

He smiled at her. "Just do it."

She opened her palm to him obediently, and he deposited the silver chain he had removed from her wrist just moments before there. The woman blinked several times at the piece of silver there, and then looked urgently at her opposite wrist, which was now bare.

"How did you-?" She asked him quickly. When he just smiled, she shook her head. "Alright, I'm impressed." She finally admitted.

He removed the bracelet from her hand and clasped it onto her opposite wrist for her. Next to them, Maya had also fetched her luggage. She and Louis were already headed out of the airport. "Shall we?" Eames asked Jaclyn. The woman nodded, and Eames went to reach for her luggage. "Sure you're not going to steal anything from me?" She questioned playfully before he touched her luggage. "I promise." He responded.

* * *

><p>The ride to the hotel they were staying at wasn't very long. The ladies checked into their room, while Eames went with Louis to his room to wait for the two women.<p>

"So, what do you think of them?" Louis asked Eames when they finally reached the room.

"They seem like very nice ladies." Eames replied nonchalantly as he sat down in a chair.

"You and Jaclyn seemed to get along pretty well." Louis remarked as he sat across the table from Eames.

"She's a nice girl." He replied with the same cool tone.

Louis eyed the other man for a moment before there was a soft knock on the door. He immediately rose from his seat to go and answer it, and the two ladies walked into the room. Louis gestured for them to have a seat at the glass table Eames was already seated at. The two women sat, and Maya placed her bag on the table in front of her.

Maya pulled out a manila folder from her bag, and opened it on the middle of the table. Inside were several pictures, and a few documents and files.

"Alright." She began. "I did some research about our Mark, Michael Sharper. He's head researcher at Vi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, a biotechnology company based here in San Francisco. Our mark is something of a genius in his field of study, releasing some of the most important research on genetic modification of viruses. Turns out that eventually, this research could lead to cures for cancer and HIV. Our employer wants us to steal some of his unreleased findings." Maya placed a picture of the man in the center of the table along with some papers about him. Jaclyn picked up some of the papers and began to browse over the man's profile.

"Alright." Jaclyn replied to the woman. "What's our best option for putting him under?"

"It shouldn't be very hard to get our researcher alone long enough to extract the information." Maya replied. "From what I've uncovered about him, it looks like he's actually quite the pig. He goes out drinking every weekend and gets black-out drunk at the same club every night. He hits on women much younger than himself, attempts to pick them up, the whole nine-yards. Some weekends he doesn't come home to his wife at all."

"This bloke is making it a little too easy for us." Remarked Eames.

"It looks that way, doesn't it?" Maya replied. "But I'm pretty sure that he's had his mind trained by an extractor to prevent extraction."

"Lovely." Eames replied.

Maya nodded in agreement. "However, he does have an overbearing boss, which could be advantageous to us."

"I propose we stage a conference in the dream. We'll have to make sure he brings the right information with him to the conference, so we'll need to make sure his boss is there." Jaclyn stated. When she turned her head to look towards Eames, he met her gaze. "Could you impersonate him?"

"If I can get access to him to observe his behaviors, it shouldn't be a problem." Eames replied.

"We're gonna need to get into that facility." Louis responded. "What's our overbearing boss' name?"

Maya deposited another picture and file on the table, which Eames then picked up. "Henry Wiles." Eames read from the file. "Demanding, obsessed with profit, the end justifies the means type of guy. Sounds like a real charming bloke."

"So how do we get into the facility?" Louis questioned.

"We're gonna need authentication badges." Maya responded. "If I can find you an example of one, can you make us fakes?" She directed at Eames.

Eames nodded his head. "I believe so." Maya nodded in response.

"You mind if I hold onto this?" Eames asked Maya, referring to the file in his hand. The woman shook her head in response. "Not at all."

"Well, it's getting late." Jaclyn stated. "I say we start the real hard work tomorrow morning."

The rest of the group nodded in agreement, and soon the two women were on the way to their room. Eames followed shortly after them to his own room, where he quickly showered and had no problem falling asleep.

* * *

><p>Jaclyn and Maya returned to their room after the meeting with the two men. It was a decent sized suite, with a separate room for each woman. Jaclyn walked over to the couch located in the shared living room and sat down. She removed the heels from her feet with a relieved sigh. Across the coffee table, Maya sat down in a chair and did the same.<p>

"So, what do you think?" Maya asked Jaclyn. "Does he look good for it?"

Jaclyn pondered for a moment before answering. "Off of first impressions? I don't know. He's good. That's apparent."

"Why do you say that?" Maya asked her.

"He slipped my bracelet right off my wrist. I didn't even notice that he touched my wrist. I felt him brush my shoulder, and the next thing I knew he was holding my bracelet."

Maya laughed when she said that. "Certainly doesn't mean he's capable of inception."

"Well, no, of course not." Jaclyn replied. "But it was a pretty impressive show of skill."

Maya merely smirked at the other woman. "I think you were just impressed with _him_ in general."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Jaclyn shot back at the other woman.

"Oh, come on. As if you didn't notice. He's gorgeous!" Maya replied.

Jaclyn shook her head. "I am approaching this from a completely business perspective." She replied. "And unless him being unusually attractive benefits my end goal, I won't be approaching it."

Maya threw her hands up at the other woman. "Well, fine. You can not notice it if you want to. I, on the other hand, am going to enjoy the view." The woman stood up from her chair and walked into her room. Before closing her door, she poked her head around the doorframe. "Oh, and if he isn't good for it, I call dibs." With that, she shut her door and went into her room.

"What, are we in fifth grade or something?" Jaclyn yelled playfully to the other woman through the door.

* * *

><p><em>The breeze was warm, and the air was fragrant. She was at a beach somewhere, her sundress brushing against her skin playfully. She leaned against the wooden railing and closed her eyes, taking in the soft, warm breeze and the smell of salt in the air. She opened her eyes as she felt arms slide around her waist and a chin rest against her shoulder.<em>

"_Was I right about this place?" Ben asked her after placing a small kiss on her cheek._

_Jaclyn nodded in response. "It's beautiful." She turned around to face the man behind her, and he moved to rest his hands on her hips._

_Dark, slightly curly hair. Dark eyes that were so blue they almost seemed to match the turquoise sea in front of her. And just a little bit of five-o'clock shadow. This was the man that was her whole world._

_He smiled at her. A simple, sweet smile, which she returned with ease. He traced along her arm with his fingertips, and she stood on her tiptoes, to give him a kiss._

Jaclyn awoke with a start. Immediately, her hands flew to her lips, and she inhaled deeply to make sure there wasn't a taste of salt in the air. She rose from her bed and walked to the bathroom, where she splashed cold water on her face several times.

_What the hell was that? _She thought urgently to herself as she stared herself down in the mirror. She couldn't even recall the last time she had dreamed period, let alone dreamed about Ben. She splashed water on her face again. The experience had left her with chills all over her body. She dabbed her face dry with a towel, and then walked back over to her bed. She was about to crawl back into the bed, when she changed her mind, and walked over to her purse. She dug around in one of the compartments, until she withdrew a ring.

The ring was still just as stunning to her as the first time she had seen it, when Ben had proposed. It was a simple ring, with a large square cut diamond in the center, and two smaller diamonds on either side of it. Most of the time she kept the ring in her purse. Occasionally, she would wear the ring on her right hand. It was very rare that she would put the ring on her left hand. But tonight, she did. She slipped the thin band onto her left finger, and looked at it for just a moment. But as she stared at the ring, memories came flooding back to her. She quickly yanked the ring back off of her finger, and stuffed it back into her purse.

She sighed heavily, and closed her eyes for a moment. Everything about dream-sharing reminded her of Ben. She knew that even if she didn't have to do dream sharing for a living, Ben would still be part of her life. But she wouldn't have even known dream sharing without him. Everything about this lifestyle was Ben.

She stood and crossed the room to her bed, and crawled under the sheets again. The sheets had cooled in her absence, and only intensified the chills she was having. As she crawled into the bed, she felt unusually cold and alone. For a moment, she could have sworn she smelled Ben's cologne. She glanced over her shoulder at the made-up side of the bed where Ben would have normally been. Of course, he wasn't there. And just as quickly as it had come, the smell of his cologne was gone.

She had a feeling as to why she was having these sudden flash backs. She had felt guilty when Maya had been teasing her about Eames. He was exceptionally handsome, and she couldn't deny that she had been flirting with him. Of course, she didn't mean anything by it. She wouldn't allow herself to become emotionally attached to someone that she was quite possibly going to betray. But still, the guilt was still there. It had been a long time since Ben had passed away, and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she found herself being more open to advances from men.

However, after such a vivid dream, she had a feeling that she wouldn't be flirting with anyone for a while. She lay awake in bed for a few more minutes before she finally shut her eyes, and willed herself to have a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p>AN: Hope you enjoyed it!

Please, R&R! Your reviews inspire me to keep writing.


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